How to add muzzle flashes to your gun shots in Photoshop
Muzzle flashes done well can really add production value to your movie. I create the muzzle flashes in Adobe Photoshop frame-by-frame using the paintbrush tool.
Export your gun shot clip as a filmstrip file then import that into Photoshop. You’ll see the sequence frame-by-frame. I create a new layer over the filmstrip file and set the layer to “color burn.”
Then I just paint something that looks like a muzzle flash (to me, at least) over two consecutive frames. Sometimes I use the blur tool to further shape the muzzle flash.
Then save the filmstrip file and re-import it into Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid, Sony Vegas, or your NLE of choice.
Alternatively, you can create muzzle flashes in Adobe Premiere or After Effects by overlaying still images of muzzle flashes onto your video and then keying out the background.
Muzzle flashes are cool - what about, say, bullet ricochets? I’m trying to work on dust kicking up around people to simulate bullets being shot at them.
I guess the easy way is just snagging a paintball gun, but that still, y’know, requires shooting some heavy projectiles in the vicinity of human beings, which isn’t ideal.
You can try searching for stock footage of dust plumes, then composite that into your shot (speed it up if necessary). Art Beats is good, but expensive. Maybe try http://www.detonationfilms.com/. Might be tough if its a moving shot because then you’ll have to track it.